With liberals currently foaming at the mouth about the Koch brothers, Bought and Paid For; The Unholy Alliance between Obama and Wall Street, by Charles Gasparino becomes even more significant. The book details how Obama was backed by Wall Street very early in the 2008 election and with much more money than they’d ever given a candidate before. Obama amply repaid their investment by giving the TBTF banks sweetheart deals, backstopping them against failure, and allowing them to borrow from the Fed at ultra-cheap rates then reinvest it in government backed securities at a higher rate, thus guaranteeing a no-risk return. Further, he allowed accounting rules to be changed for the big banks so they no longer have to mark-to-market. Instead, they can value their toxic securities at whatever price they want.
But that’s not Gasparino’s main point. Instead he focuses on two points. 1) Much of the top management of these banks are Democrats. 2) Wall Street likes big government. Say what? Sure, Wall Street detests any attempts at regulation but in reality is intertwined with and dependent upon big government. Here’s why:
Wall Street loves big government because it can feast off its programs, make money off “infrastructure” spending, and earn its fees selling government bonds to finance the deficit. (pg. 176)
Plus, when the banks co-exist so closely with D.C. that they can determine policy then they also get such perks as mentioned above, like being able to borrow and invest risk-free with a guaranteed profit.
So, it’s hardly just billionaires on the right that are plundering the country. Plenty of liberal Democrat bankster billionaires are doing the same.
Gasparino is a conservative. I disagree with some of his views but they seem principled enough to me. Plus, he is genuinely concerned by the effect the corrupt nexus of Wall Street and DC is having on the rest of the country.
I’ve tried to lay out how much damage has already been done, just how much Wall Street got for its investment when it bought candidate Obama, and how much worse it’s going to get unless and until ordinary Americans wake up and realize how close we are to destroying so many of the values and institutions that have made this country great.